Wednesday, December 29, 2010

5 stylish pairs found in a Google/etsy/eBay search. Lord knows I have way too many shoes, but I find a few of these shoes clever! I'm not sure how often I'd wear them though... But shoeaholics know there's just something about a great shoe. Nancy Drew was often sporting a great pair of heels--even climbing ladders in them!

So if you're wondering what to wear to the Nancy Drew 2011 Convention in Charlottesville, maybe these will inspire you :-) Try chasing suspects down a dark alley in these!

One thing I'm noticing in stores is a trend for peacocks this year! In stationery, Christmas ornaments (I got several of those this year!), fashion, and jewelry. I don't think it's just because I have peacocks on the brain...

We're blogging about the 2011 Nancy Drew Convention in Charlottesville, VA leading up to the event, March 30-April 3. If you want to join us, visit our Nancy Drew Sleuths website for more details on how to register-deadline is Feb. 1, 2011: www.ndsleuths.com/ndsconventions

I probably don't have to point out that our theme book, #34 The Hidden Window Mystery, has a little something to do with peacocks ;-)

Like this cutie! So gorgeous, isn't he. Of course the males are the ones that are so dandy and colorful. Nancy Drew encounters a few of these birds while sleuthing in Charlottesville, Virginia.

She even finds one late at night with its fan spread wide running around the grounds of spooky Ivy Hall--as depicted on the cover of the original cover shown above.

Did you know? Peacocks come in a very gorgeous white version? They're not albinos. They're a variant of one species of peacock. I'm learning all sorts of interesting tidbits about peacocks in planning and preparing for the convention! And I'll be sharing some of those fun facts with you from time to time as we get closer to the convention!

Several things in this note: CP Marketplace Rip Offs, How to shop the Cafe Press Nancy Drew Shop.

One thing I've pointed out before is that we don't get much of a commission on Cafe Press "marketplace" orders. Another thing I noticed today, was that a member recently purchased a calendar at Cafe Press from their marketplace. But the price was 22.00. That's another thing to point out! When you purchase at CafePress.com using their search boxes to get into their marketplace area, they often mark up our items even higher than they are in our store. We sell the calendar for 19.99 in the shop there.

On that page you'll see links along the left side of the page broken down in to categories for each style of art we have up and also on the main center of the page--you can click on the art style you want and a page of all the products with that image will come up. If you want to get out of that and go back, hit your back buttons or use the left tool bar links to move about the store.

Any time you go to the generic www.cafepress.com website and search "Nancy Drew" then you are shopping within their "marketplace" and you'll find that their prices are often higher than our store prices and our commission goes down considerably. For example, in our shop the calendar brings a 5.00 commission, the marketplace pays only 2.20 and they've marked up the item to 22.00 whereas ours is 19.99. Quite a difference.

Another thing, if you've signed up for e-mails from Cafe Press for specials/sales, those are usually only good on their marketplace sales. To get sales from within our Nancy Drew Shop there, you'll need to check our Blog weekly for those savings codes to use. They don't e-mail those to you but on rare occasions because they want you to buy from the marketplace instead of our shops (so they can pay us less $$$) so they aggressively target you that way.

Friday, December 24, 2010

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the Drew houseNot a creature was stirring, not even Togo or a mouseThe Stockings were hung by the Crowley clock with careIn hopes that St. Nickerson would soon be there

Carson and Hannah were nestled all snug in their bedsWhile visions of mysteries danced in their headsAnd Togo in his dog bed and I in my night capHad just settled down for a long winter's nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatterI sprang from the bed to see what was the matterAway to the window I flew with my flashlightTore open the shutters and threw up the sash with a fright

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snowGave the lustre of mid-day to sinister suspects belowWhen what to my mystery-loving eyes should appear do you suppose?But a sinister fellow in ill-fitting clothes!

With a shadowy figure in a getaway car parked at the streetI knew in a moment I must be quick at my feetMore rapid than roadsters I took to the roofAs the dastardly villain was ready to spoof

And he whistled and shouted and called his hidden cronies by nameNow Stumpy, now Gombet, now Semitt and MasonOn Topham! On Shorty! on Felix and Dixon!To the top of the porch, scale the Drew wall!Now break in, break in, break in all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane flyWhen they meet with an obstacle; mount to the skySo up to the porch and the back door the villains flewUnaware of Nancy, Hannah, and Chief McGinnis too

And then in a twinkling they saw on the roofthe heroine and famous sleuth of this little spoofAs the dastardly villains began to turn aroundDown the wall scaled Nancy with a bound

She was dressed all in blue from her pumps to her cloche hatAnd her clothes were all tailored with the finest of this and thatA bundle of sleuthing tools she had ready to sleuthShe would interrogate them all until they told the truth!

Her eyes how they twinkled, her dimples how merryHer cheeks were flushed like roses, she sensed she should be waryHer smart little mouth was on the verge of a retortBut she held herself in check unlike Hannah who was more course and short

The handle of a broom Hannah held tight in her handsAs she waved the bristled end at the sinister robber bandsShe put on a stern face and with a quick shoutChief McGinnis appeared ready to round up thieves running about

McGinnis was chubby and plump--a right jolly old police chiefAnd Nancy grinned when she saw him then set to off to catch a thiefA wink of his eye and a twist of his headHe gave the dastardly villains visions of dread

He spoke not a word but went straight to his workFilled his police car with villains, then turned with a jerkNancy and Hannah appeared with the last of the bunchHannah poked and she prodded, the broom sure packed a punch

McGinnis sprang to his car, to his men gave a whistleAnd away all the thieves were transported like the down of a thistleand Nancy and Hannah heard him exclaim ere he drove out of siteHappy Christmas to all and to all a peaceful villain-free night!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Our November/December 2010 issue of The Sleuth is in the mail! Preview the issue below and at our website. You can subscribe there, purchase back issues, or send in a printable PDF form from the website to:

Nancy Drew SleuthsP.O. Box 128Higley, AZ 85236-0128

Back issue special 4/10.00 through Jan. 15, 2011. Not reflected at the website, so send in checks or money orders to the above address or send a Pay Pal to: nancydrewsleuth@aol.com or e-mail to request an invoice (sleuths@ndsleuths.com).

In This Issue:

Calling All Sleuths: Editor’s Note By Jennifer Fisher

The Clue Conundrum: Sleuth & Snack Match Game

Hannah Gruen – The Sleuthing Snack Queen By Jennifer Fisher

AZ Sleuths’ 2010 Halloween Party By Jennifer Fisher

The Nancy Drew Crookbook Part XIV By Caroline Stellings

Nancy Drew: A Canadian Perspective – the Death and Life of Billy Feral Review By Anthony Fournier

Sunday, December 12, 2010

The AZ Sleuths held our annual holiday party at Sleuth Judy's house in Scottsdale this past Friday. Dede commemorated the event by making a holiday Nancy Drew t-shirt featuring the image from #110, The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery plus earrings and jewelry.

We had a delicious pot luck and a Nancy Drew ornament gift exchange--see bags above and below:

Here are the ornaments received in the exchange:

It was lots of fun, thanks to everyone who participated and we'll see you at the Poisoned Pen in January for our book discussion group meeting!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

We've added Happy Holidays cards featuring the quaint Polly Bolian Cameo art for The Mystery at the Ski Jump, stockings featuring the silhouette of Nancy Drew and either "Nancy Drew" or "Girl Sleuth", plus all of our ornaments have been imported into that section for easy access--dozens of those featuring all of our various images and silhouettes.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Our November AZ Sleuths meeting at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale was lots of fun. We were discussing both text versions of the Nancy Drew classic books #18, The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion and #19, The Quest of the Missing Map.